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Monday, April 8, 2013

I'm a sucker for a spicy, easy to grab chunk of coffee cake. Whether it's super-crumby, butter-packed and so sweet lesser mortals would go into instant diabetic shock, or the lesser evils like the yogurt-based and vegan goodies out there, chances are if it's got a good whack of cinnamon in it and the cake itself is tender and delicious, I'll swipe a piece. Only recently did I start incorporating fruit into my snacking / coffee cakes in more ways than "mashed bananas" or "applesauce", but I was struggling to keep the cake from becoming chewy from the lack of fat, grainy from the flour, and bland without a super-buttery topping.

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of The Newlywed Cookbook by Robin Miller a few months ago, which sparked a cooking and baking spree as I was writing my review. One of the recipes my mom and I both earmarked was the Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake (p. 189) and it was no question that it would be first on my list to make! Unfortunately, the first version (as written) was spongy, almost spiceless (no cinnamon in an Apple Cinnamon cake?) the and far too sweet for a "breakfast" or "snack" cake. The other issue was that the original recipe adds the topping after the cake is baked - which fell right off and seemed like a waste of time and effort.

Learning from version 1, I made a batch of chunky applesauce and set about playing with the recipe's ingredients and method. Most significantly, I added almonds and pecans to the topping and patted it onto the uncooked batter before putting it in the oven, making for a slightly crunchy crust that stuck. I also cut the total amount of sugar, used vanilla almond milk to moisten, chucked in a dash of whole grain spelt flour and (of course) put spice in the actual cake itself.

Verdict? Definite success - flavourful, moist and just rich enough on it's own! If you don't want to make your own chunky applesauce, just see my notes for using premade pie filling - yes, pie filling - instead. It's a wonderful morning snack, and with a scoop of frozen yoghurt you can even have a bona fide dessert on more weeknights!